Our First OPMEG Experiment With a Community Participant!

We’re thrilled to share a major milestone from the Cognitive Neuroscience Hub at the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, led by Professor Marta Garrido and Dr Sophie Lin.

This week, the team successfully completed their first OPM-MEG (Optically Pumped Magnetometer Magnetoencephalography) experiment with a community participant- a landmark moment for neuroscience research in Australia.

The OPM-MEG is a cutting-edge way to measure brain activity, offering much more flexibility than traditional systems. Instead of bulky, fixed equipment, OPM-MEG uses small, lightweight sensors that sit close to the head and work at room temperature. This means we can record brain activity in more natural, real-world settings.

This marks the culmination of years of dedication and over $2 million in investment, establishing the first OPMEG setup in the Southern Hemisphere. Our system is housed in a custom-built, magnetically shielded room on the Parkville campus. We’re using it to explore how the brain responds to sounds, images, and touch, and to help develop next-generation brain-computer interfaces.

Because the setup is wearable, it’s ideal for working with children and clinical groups, including people with mental health conditions or movement disorders. We’re genuinely excited about what OPM-MEG makes possible for neuroscience research- and we’re always keen to collaborate with others who want to help push the boundaries of brain science.

We're excited to announce an upcoming OPMEG Workshop in July, hosted by Professor Marta Garrido and Dr Sophie Lin. This interactive event will take place on Tuesday 1st July, from 2:00pm-6:45pm and will feature a mix of expert talks, live demonstrations and hands-on practical sessions. Topics will cover data acquisition, sensor calibration, participant setup and real time data recordings. Register here: OPMEG Workshop Tickets, Tue, Jul 1, 2025 at 2:00 PM | Eventbrite